Lux Lucet

Propositional Revelation, What is it?      

When first reading Gordon Clark many years ago, I came across a curious term I had never seen before.  When reading his books and others who commented on his books, I kept seeing the term “propositional revelation.”  “What could this mean?’ I thought to myself.   Although it took some time, I eventually did come to understand what this term meant. 

The word “propositional” is the adjectival form of the noun “proposition.”  Once one knows the meaning of the term “proposition,” the term “propositional” becomes much clearer. 

Both Gordon Clark and John Robbins were trained philosophers.  As such, they used the term “proposition” in its technical, philosophical sense.  In his book Logic, Clark gives the definition of proposition as, “A form of words in which something (the predicate) is affirmed or denied of something (the subject): the meaning expressed by a declarative sentence” (131). 

In English Composition and Grammar, John Warriner writes, “A declarative sentence is a sentence that makes a statement” (479).

One example of a declarative sentence is “All men are mortal.”  This sentence asserts something (mortality) about a subject (all men). 

Now if we go back to Clark’s definition of “proposition,” we see that he defines proposition, not as a declarative sentence, but as the meaning of a declarative sentence.  So why does Clark distinguish between a declarative sentence and its meaning?

In short, the reason for the distinction is that the same meaning can be expressed by different words.  For example, I can say, “The ball is red.”  This is a declarative sentence, since it asserts something (redness) about a predicate (the ball).  But what if I were to say, “Red is the ball”?  Now normally in English we don’t put the adjective first, but it can be done.  Is there any difference in meaning between “The ball is red” and “Red is the ball”?  No. Both sentences mean the same thing, even though the wording is slightly different in each of them.  Since both sentences have the same meaning, they are the same proposition.

Another important point to make about propositions is implied in the definition, propositions necessarily use words.  There is no such thing a non-verbal proposition.  Emotions are not propositions.  Neither are trees, mountains, thunder bolts or C major chords.  Now we can use propositions to describe all these things, but they themselves are not propositions. 

A further point to be made about propositions is that only propositions can be true or false.  In addition to propositions, there are three other types of sentences.  There are questions, commands and interjections.  Now while all three of these are legitimate grammatical constructions, they are not propositions.  “Is the ball red?” is a question and cannot be a proposition, because a question cannot be true or false.  “Give me the red ball!” is not a proposition, it is a command.  “How red is the ball!” is an interjection, expressing a strong feeling about something.  It also is not a proposition.     

Besides “propositional,” the other word in “propositional revelation” is, of course, “revelation.”  The Christian meaning of “revelation” is the 66 books of the Bible, which alone are the Word of God. Perhaps to sharpen that definition a bit, we could say that Christian revelation is the propositions found in the 66 books of the Bible.  Propositional revelation is the idea that God has graciously given us information, and that information always uses words in the form of propositions.        

Now someone may object and say, “the Ten Commandments are not propositions, they are commands; do you mean to say that the Ten Commandments are not God’s revelation?”  Good question.  Although the Ten Commandments are not themselves propositions – they are commands after all, and commands are not declarative sentences, and therefore, are not propositions as we noted above – they are, however, given in the context of a proposition.  Consider Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 43.  It reads, “What is the preface to the ten commandments?”, the answer being, “The preface to ten commandments is in these words, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” That preface is in the form of a proposition and controls all that follows.  If the Ten Commandments were given without any context, we would be under no more obligation to obey them than we are the Code of Hammurabi.  But because they were given by God himself, ancient Israel, and Christians today, are under an obligation to obey them.

Propositional Revelation and Free Speech        

Because God’s revelation is propositional, the importance of free speech is evident.  Unless Christians are free to preach, speak, exhort and rebuke using the Word of God – note well that we rightly call the Scriptures the Word of God – how will anyone hear the truth and believe it?  All it would take is for a tyrannical magistrate to pass a law prohibiting the preaching of the Law and the Gospel and all would be darkness. 

It is no accident that the Constitution’s First Amendment links free speech with the free exercise of religion.  It reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” 

Because Christianity is the propositions revealed by God in his Word, Christians ought to jealously guard freedom of speech.  Unless we are free to speak the Word of God, there is no evangelism, there is no Christian teaching, there is no truth.

For this reason, it should come as no surprise that the idea of free speech was given force of law, not in those nations dominated by the medieval dogmatic religions such as Roman Catholicism or Islam, but in the United States, which at the time of the writing of the Constitution was a Protestant nation.  

Likewise, it is not surprising that in the early 21^st century, America, which is now heavily influenced by the ideas of medieval Romanism, Judaism and Islam, as well as secular philosophy, is substituting dogmatic censorship for free speech.  One sees this not only in social media, but also in “woke” speech codes which are rigorously enforced on college campuses, places of work, and in the media and society generally.

In the posts that follow, it is my hope to define free speech a bit more carefully as well as survey the Scriptures themselves for examples both of free speech as well as attempts to curtail free speech and how believers dealt with those attempts.   If time permits, perhaps we will look at additional challenges to free speech in our own time as well.    

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